A headline from an ESPN article on Wednesday looked more like a headline from an Onion article: “Trent Edwards defends his deep ball.”

Here are three responses to this headline. (And feel free to share if you have any.)

*Trent Edwards has a deep ball? (You probably saw that one coming.)

*Trent Edwards defends his deep ball…just like every defensive back in the NFL has done with ease.

*Even Trent Edwards can defend Trent Edwards’ deep ball.

In other Trent Edwards-related news, kudos to Rex Ryan for his honesty. The Jets head coach explained by the team tried to snatch Edwards off waivers: "It would have been two factors. We think he can play quarterback in this league. The other factor would be we think it would help us get an idea of this Buffalo offense. That would have been a little plus there."

We know the Jets aren’t big on Kellen Clemens. Heck, Mike Tannenbaum told the fifth-year quarterback in front of the Hard Knocks television audience that if he didn’t take a pay reduction, he’d be cut. Before that, coaches had quickly given Clemens’ backup job to Jets newcomer and AARP member Mark Brunell.

But we didn’t know the Jets were this low on Clemens. According to multiple reports, the Jets were one of two teams that tried to claim former Bills quarterback Trent Edwards off waivers. Clemens is a former second-round pick with decent athleticism and some starting experience. Are the Jets really this low on him as a third-stringer?

Tannenbaum told Clemens that his best chance to succeed in the NFL was to stick around in the familiar Jets system and try to win the No. 2 job once Brunell retires (likely next season or 2012). But if Clemens were really in the long-term plans, the Jets would not have tried to acquire Edwards.

Of course, it’s possible the Jets wanted Edwards strictly for reconnaissance. They travel to Buffalo to face the AFC East rival Bills this Sunday.

After all, he tried to put Luke McCown in for Garrard earlier in the year, but an injury forced him to put Garrard back in, and then the team had to sign Bouman for the fourth time, a fact alone that should tell you he's not cut out to actually take snaps there.

It is surprising that no winless teams claimed the recently cut Edwards, given the need for quarterback help in Cleveland, Carolina, San Francisco and, um, Buffalo, but once those teams were removed from the equation, the Jaguars got first crack at Edwards' services.

Dey Took Er Jobs takes a look at the various job controversies around the league. If you don't get the title, you don't watch enough South Park . Posted by Will Brinson

The Buffalo Bills, probably the most quarterback-desperate team in the NFL over the past 10 or so years, made the surprising decision to cut Trent Edwards yesterday. He is jobless and homeless right now, but -- thank goodness for that Stanford education! -- certainly not unemployable.

That's the beauty of getting kicked out of Buffalo: the grass is always greener, even once you've been on the other side for 10 years. Of course, if you're Edwards, you have to be disappointed that the gig didn't work out -- after all, he was drafted by the Bills out of Stanford and given plenty of opportunities to win the starting job and resurrect the franchise. Clearly, that didn't happen.

So knowing that he'll end up somewhere, the question becomes "Where does he get his second chance?"

According to the NFL, the teams with the worst record this year will have priority on waiver claims, and assuming that multiple teams with the same record make a claim on Edwards, a tie will be broken "based on current strength-of-schedule of the involved clubs or by lot if a tie still exists."

Let's say that all the 0-3 teams make a claim as well as the Vikings, Seahawks and Jets. The order would be thus: 49ers/Browns (7-2 opponent record), Lions/Bills (6-3), Panthers (5-4), Jaguars (4-5), Vikings (4-5), Jets (6-3) and Seahawks (2-7).

According to Jason LaCanfora , though, "no winless teams" made a claim on Edwards, thereby eliminating six teams from consideration and wasting about 15 minutes of my time, primarily because I'm horribly bad at math.

Out of those teams, the 49ers are most surprising (see below), but, considering that LaCanfora has a knack for being correct and also happens to work for a media outlet owned by the organization who takes the waiver claims in from the teams, it seems that one fo the 26 other squads will be going after the former team captain in Buffalo.

The Vikings haven't been rumored insofar as I can tell but they still make sense, especially if you buy into the theory that Brett Favre might get hurt. (Oh, and the theory that everyone's scared of having to put Tavaris Jackson into the game.)

The Jets are considered a team that would be heavily interested in having Edwards on board -- but probably only to steal secrets from the Bills in anticipation of their upcoming ... HAHAHAHA, sorry. Okay, actually because they'd prefer to have someone more lively than Mark Brunell to step in if Mark Sanchez is injured or falters.

And the Seahawks make absolute sense because Edwards is a cheap third option when should Matt Hasselbeck suffer an injury and they realize that Charlie Whitehurst isn't cut out to run their offense.

*** Why the Niners didn't make a claim is beyond me -- they're a team who needs to find an offensive identity, having been continually perplexed by the inconsistency of Alex Smith, who looked to have "arrived" during a close loss to the Saints in Week 2, only to have "checked out for the duration" against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. Oh, and they're the only 0-3 team,

Edwards would provide them an option that's not David Carr to either push or replace Alex Smith. And look, Mike Singletary just fired his offensive coordinator only a few days after publicly defending him and acting outraged that anyone would question whether Raye knew what he was doing (um, he didn't, duh).

Plus, they could've claimed Edwards and Singletary could have done the whole "just for depth" and "Alex is our starter" dance, only to put him in the game after Smith's second interception in the first quarter against the Falcons in Week 4.

*** The Cleveland Browns decision not to pursue Edwards isn't as odd, I suppose, although Jake Delhomme hasn't looked great when he's been healthy, and while Seneca Wallace is a Mike Holmgren favorite, outside of tossing a bomb past an out-of-place Eric Berry, he hasn't been that great (370 yards, two TDs and a pick in two games).

But the decision not to spend a roster spot on adding a potentially gimpy donkey to their stable of already ugly horses is understandable, except that unless Delhomme can stay healthy, Cleveland's one bad break away from putting McCoy under center and really slapping a postage stamp to the season.

*** An argument could be made that the Panthers need to at least make a run at Edwards as well, but he's really nothing more than Matt Moore sans familiarity with the team and coaching staff.

The bigger problem for Carolina might be that John Fox already regrets his blatantly panicked decision to put Jimmy Clausen under center after an 0-2 start that only got uglier in a home loss to Cincinnati.

The good news is that the Saints -- as shown by Atlanta plowing through them in the Bayou -- are vulnerable against the run, and if there's one thing the Panthers should do well, it's pound the rock. They haven't been great about it thus far, but that's because they're staring down stacked boxes on nearly every play as teams refuse to respect whoever's under center.

That could change this weekend -- weather won't be a factor (see: three fumbles by Jim-Jim), and if Clausen can take his progression blinders off, quit staring down his receiver every play, the Panthers could be primed for a "where did that come from oh right it's the matchup" upset. You heard it here first.

*** The Jaguars would actually be an ideal situation, at least for Edwards. He'd face relatively limited competition -- by all accounts, Jack Del Rio wants to replace David Garrard in the starting lineup, he just doesn't have the bodies to do it after Luke McCown went down with an injury ... immediately after replacing David Garrard .

And let's face it, that offensive line has been putrid thus far; putting Todd Bouman, who is either 18 or 45 years old and who has backed up big names like Kyle Boller, Jamie Martin, Gus Frerotte and Quinn Gray en route to being signed by the Jaguars FOUR DIFFERENT TIMES , won't end well.

*** The notion that Ben Roethlisberger might not start when he returns from suspension following the Steelers' bye in Week 5 has been tossed around in the media. Like, kind of a lot.

And Charlie Batch has been very good in replacing Ben, at least, you know, relative to what everyone expected from Charlie Freaking Batch. But let's not lose our minds just because we (read: you) kind of want to see Roethlisberger punished by karma and riding the pine. He's by far and away the best quarterback option for Pittsburgh, and Mike Tomlin is going to start him as soon as he's allowed to.

If the Steelers happen to be undefeated at that point in time, well, watch out NFL.

*** Quickly ...

- Peyton Hillis didn't just put the whole "Eric Mangini hates Jerome Harrison" conspiracy theory to bed, he shoved about 15 Ambien in its mouth and then wrapped it in a Snuggie.

- Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles, as much as I'd like to think so, aren't in a battle for a job. They're just two running backs with different style co-existing in a system that just so happens to make one of them less valuable. And the less valuable guy just happens to be Charles, who's more talented.

- The only awesome thing about drafting Kevin Kolb in fantasy leagues is that you had to pick up Michael Vick. That's worked out quite well.

- I really thought that Chan Gailey was trying to showcase Marshawn Lynch to increase his trade value. And even if he was, in the process, Lynch has just become the best running back in Buffalo (once again).

- Kevin Smith returns this week and Jahvid Best is injured ... it shouldn't matter, but that's what Wally Pip probably said too.

- Yeah, I'm really pumped about the "Garrett Hartley versus John Carney" lede in this column next week too, thanks for asking.

Don't laugh, but NFL teams will be lining up for Trent Edwards' services this afternoon, just a few days after the Buffalo Bills decided to release him from their roster . Or, more accurately, they may have already lined up and are shuffling around trying to figure out who might be in front of them for his services.

See, if a player is dumped in the first three weeks of the NFL season, the prior season's records determine the waiver order. If it's after the first three weeks, the current season's records determine the order. Edwards was dumped on Monday, after the third Sunday of the season but not before the entire week was completed.

However, according to the NFL's clarifying statement to Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk , 2010 records will matter in this instance, because Edwards' contract is being awarded on Tuesday (which is today and which is after Week 3, obviously).

A quick glance at the standings reveals a few teams that stink this season, primarily because of quarterback problems: the Panthers, the Jaguars, the 49ers, the Browns and the Lions are all 0-3 and have either a) had a quarterback get injured, b) replaced their starting quarterback for poor performance at some point this season or c) been fooled for the 500th time by Alex Smith playing well in one game.

Oh yes, and the Bills. But it's at least "improbable" that they would release him and then claim him. ("Impossible" seems like a stretch, given the absurdity of releasing him this early in the season without even seeking some sort of trade with a quarterback needy team.)

Not playing Revis makes sense. The Bills QB situation is pretty ghastly – even with Buffalo releasing Trent Edwards today – and I wouldn’t expect Ryan Fitzpatrick to challenge New York’s secondary enough for the Jets to feel Revis’ absence. Plus, with a hamstring injury, the team will be extra cautious with Revis so this doesn’t become a long-term problem.

“He’s moving around better and he feels better,” Ryan told reporters, including the New York Post. “But you almost have to be 100 percent to play corner or you’re going to be facing this the whole season.”

Pace, meanwhile, has missed all three games after breaking his foot in the preseason. But Ryan said Pace could return to practice Wednesday.

In Pace’s place, Jason Taylor has received much more playing time at outside linebacker than he originally might have expected.

The Bills have erased some of the cloudiness at the quarterback position. The team announced Monday that Trent Edwards has been released.

Chan Gailey will be available for comment later in the day. Edwards was demoted to second-string duties early last week. His replacement, Ryan Fitzpatrick, led the Bills to 23 points at New England Sunday (a C.J. Spiller kick return touchdown added seven more).

The end of the Edwards era in Buffalo marks the end in one of the great all-time displays of mediocrity. In his three-plus years with the team, Edwards completed 60.9 percent of his throws, threw 25 touchdowns vs. 27 interceptions and generated a passer rating of 76.8.

Edwards was a third-round draft choice out of Stanford. Thanks to a strong endorsement from the legendary Bill Walsh, many thought he’d evolve into a fantastic system quarterback. That, obviously, never materialized. Edwards’ inability to make multiple reads and push the ball downfield proved to be far more than simple youthful inexperience.

It wasn’t always a bleak outlook for the touch-passer. Edwards led the Bills to a 4-0 start in 2008. But he suffered a nasty concussion in a Week 5 loss at Arizona. He came back for the next game (a Week 7 matchup against the Chargers) but was never the same that season. Since then, Edwards hasn’t been willing to hit the check-down receiver – he’s been eager to hit the check-down receiver.

Some team will undoubtedly sign the veteran as a backup. (And we’ll assume the Raiders will, at some point, give him a shot to come back to Cali and be the long-term franchise quarterback.) Edwards’ NFL career is only over in Buffalo.

Fitzpatrick will remain the Bills starter in 2010. Brian Brohm is now the backup (or, as they should call it in Buffalo, the next trial starter).